Emergency supporting ring for vehicle wheels with pneumatic tires

ABSTRACT

An emergency supporting ring for vehicle wheels with pneumatic tires, which is arranged within the hollow chamber of the tire and is equipped with blocks of rubber material which blocks are uniformly distributed over the circumference of said emergency supporting ring, the total of the distance between each two adjacent blocks measured along the outer circumferential circle of the ring being greater than the difference between the circumferential circle of said ring and the inner tire circumference while the difference in the circumferential speed of said outer circumferential surface of said ring and the outer circumferential surface of the tire is compensated for by a shear deformation of the blocks, the spacing between two adjacent blocks being such that at the ground contacting area of the tire when the wheel is under the rated load of the tire is greater than the deformation stroke of the blocks during their shear deformation.

United States Patent Johannsen et al.

[54] EMERGENCY SUPPORTING RING FOR VEHICLE WHEELS WITH PNEUMATIC TIRES[72] Inventors: Peter Johannsen; Robert Kohler;

Gerhard Wedekind, all of Hannover, Germany [73] Assignee: ContinentiaiGummi-Werlte Aktiengeseilschaft, Hannover, Germany 22 Filed: March26,1970

2! Appl.No.: 22,914

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 3, 1970 Germany ..P 20 04740.9

Feb 11, 1970 Germany ..P 16 05 629.4

[52] US. Cl. ..l52ll58 [51] Int. Cl ..B60c 17/04 [58] Field of Search..lS2/158 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,141,490 7/1964Lindley 152/158 [15] 3,682,218 1 Aug. 8, 1972 Primary Examiner-Arflmr L.La Point Assistant Examiner-George H. Libman Attorney-Walter BeckerABSTRACT An emergency supporting ring for vehicle wheels with pneumatictires, which is arranged within the hollow chamber of the tire and isequipped with blocks of rubber material which blocks are uniformlydistributed over the circumference of said emergency supporting ring,the total of the distance between each two adjacent blocks measuredalong the outer circumferential circle of the ring being greater thanthe difference between the circumferential circle of said ring and theinner tire circumference while the difference in the circumferentialspeed of said outer circumferentia] surface of said ring and the outercircumferential surface of the tire is compensated for by a sheardeformation of the blocks, the spacing between two adjacent blocks beingsuch that at the ground contacting area of the tire when the wheel isunder the rated load of the tire is greater than the deformation strokeof the blocks during their shear deformation.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures EMERGENCY SUPPORTING RING FOR VEHICLE WHEELSWITI-I PNEUMATIC TIRES The present invention relates to an emergencysupporting ring for vehicle wheels equipped with pneumatic tires, whichring is located in the hollow chamber of the tire and is provided withblocks or ribs of rubber or rubber-like materials uniformly orapproximately unifonnly distributed over the circumference of the ring.The purpose of such an emergency supporting ring consists in taking overthe load of the wheel when the pneumatic tire is damaged from theoutside, for instance, by mechanical means.

Inasmuch as during normal driving operation a spring action of the wheelshould bring about a corresponding depression of the pneumatic tire, theouter diameter or crown circle diameter of the emergency supporting ringmust be considerably smaller than the inner diameter of the pneumatictire below the tread strip. In view of this considerable difierence indiameter, corresponding differences in the circumference are obtained,and in case of a deflation of the tire, also differences in thefrictional road contacting circumferential extensions result which bringabout a corresponding slip and a corresponding great wear at the groundcontacting areas between the pneumatic tire and the emergency supportingring.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention so to design theemergency supporting ring of the above described type that within thearea of the ground contacting region between the emergency supportingring and the pneumatic tire a slip will practically be eliminated orwill approximately be eliminated. This object and other objects andadvantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the followingspecification in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a radial section through a portionof a wheel according to the invention for a truck.

FIG. 2 is a portion of a longitudinal section through a wheel accordingto FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 and 4 respectively illustrate two different types of blocks orribs for an emergency supporting ring according to the invention.

The emergency supporting ring according to the present invention ischaracterized primarily in that the total of the distances between theblocks at the diameter of the crown circle of the emergency supportingring is greater than the difference in the circumference between thecrown circle diameter and the tire inner diameter so that thecircumferential speed difference inherent to the crown circle diameterand the inner diameter of the tire can be equalized by a sheardeformation of the blocks, the distance between adjacent blocks beingsuch that at the ground contacting area under the wheel load (ratedload) there remains between the circumferentially adjacent blocks adistance which is in excess of the deformation of the blocks during theshear deformation.

With an emergency supporting ring designed in this way, the resiliencyof the emergency supporting ring under load will be assured at theground contacting area. In addition thereto, in view of the abovementioned distances between adjacent or successive blocks, it will beassured that the blocks can deform in conformity with the differences indiameter without interfering with each other, and can do so even whenthe blocks at the ground contacting area are subjected to pressure inview of the wheel load.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the pneumatic tire I with thetread strip zone 2 and the surface 3 therebelow on the innercircumference of the tire I is by means of its heath 4 mounted on a flatbed rim 5. Between the two beads 4 there is provided a rigid annularbody 6 with lateral discs 7 which rest against the flat bed rim 5. Theannular body 6 is centered and is centrally and frictionally heldbetween the two beads 4 by bracing in axial direction.

The outer surface of the annular body 6 may be cylindrical or crownedand serves for rigidly connecting thereto segments 8 which consist of ametallic base plate 9 and blocks or ribs 10 finnly connected thereto.The base plate 9 is held on the annular body 6 by means of screws 1 l.

The blocks or ribs 10 which at their roots merge with each other consistof rubber or rubber-like synthetic materials which will be contacted bythe inner surface 3 of the pneumatic tire I when the latter has becomedeflated or pressure-less due to mechanical influences.

The rubber blocks 10 extend transversely to the circumferentialdirection of the vehicle wheel, the arrangement being such that the sumof the distances between the blocks at the crown circle diameter d,, isgreater than the circumferential difference between the innercircumference of the tire I as determined by the diameter d, and thecrown circle circumference as determined by the diameter d;, of thecrown circle. Furthermore, the blocks 10 are relatively compact. If theinner surface 3 of the tire rests on the outer surface of the blocks 10,the blocks 10 will be subjected to a deformation by pressure without,however, being bent or buckled by the deforming pressure. Thedifferences in the circumference are in this instance equalized by ashear deformation of the blocks 10.

The above mentioned requirements are best met when the ratio of the gapwidth 1 to the width s of the blocks or ribs 10 amounts to five to eighttimes the ratio of h, d,,. Furthermore, preferably the ratio of thefreely deformable height h of the rubber blocks to the widths oftheblocks 10 should be from 0.7 to 1.1 1. Such dimensions will, whendriving with deflated tire, assure the least development of heat andthus maximum durability. At the same time there also exists thepossibility to transfer the driving force even when the tire itself hasbeen destroyed and can no longer carry out this task.

According to the present invention, also the head of the blocks 10 maybe shaped in a special way in order to reduce the rolling resistance ofthe pressure-less tire and to reduce the friction work which during thedriving is transformed into heat. To this end, the surface of the blocks10 may, as illustrated in FIG. 4, be divided into smaller blocks 12 theheight h, of which should have a relationship to the height h of theblocks which equals the ratio of about 1 5 to l 8. Furthermore, the headof the blocks 10 may, in conformity with FIG. 3, also be rounded. Inthis connection it is advantageous to have the relationship 2 rld (0.1.O.l3)/l.

Moreover, it is expedient to provide approximately from 30 to blocks 10over the circumference of the emergency supporting ring when a mediumsize truck tire is involved.

By designing the blocks in the above outlined manner, a thrustdeformation of each block will be possible inasmuch as the blocksurfaces at the outer circumference of the emergency supporting ring aredisplaced elastically and substantially parallel to the base plate 9.Moreover, the width I of the gap has been so selected that also then therespective adjacent surfaces 13 of circumferentially successive blocks10 do not contact each other when the pneumatic tire is damaged and whenthe blocks 10 at the ground contacting area are subjected to pressure.The comparatively great gap width 1 thus takes into consideration thepressure deformation of the blocks 10 and the the desired thrustdeformation. Neither thrust deformation nor the pressure deformationwill thus be able to close the gaps between adjacent blocks 10.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is, by nomeans, limited to the particular structure shown in the drawing but alsocomprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A vehicle wheel which includes: a rim, a pneumatic tire mounted onsaid rim, and an emergency supporting ring member arranged radiallyinwardly of and in spaced relationship to said pneumatic tire andsupported by said rim, said ring member including a plurality of blockmeans forming the outer circumferential portion of said ring member anddefining recesses therebetween of approximately identical magnitude soas to space radially outer portions of said block means from each other,the total of the width of all of said recesses measured along the outercircumferential circle of said emergency n'ng member being greater thanthe difference between the inner circumferential circle of the tire ininflated condition and the outer circumferential circle of saidemergency ring member, said block means being adapted to undergo a sheardeformation for compensating for the difference in the circumferentialspeed of said ring member and said tire in deflated condition of thelatter, the distance between adjacent block means in inflated conditionof the tire being such that in deflated condition of the tire and withthe rated wheel load acting upon said ring member the distance betweenadjacent block means in the circumferential direction of said ringmember and within the ground contacting region of the tire being greaterthan the deformation stroke of the respective block means during theirshear deformation, the outer circumferential surface of said block meansbeing provided with blocks.

2. A vehicle wheel according to claim I, in which the ratio of thefreely deformable height of the block means to the height of said blocksis within the range of fromS: l to8: l.

3. A vehicle tire which includes: a rim, a pneumatic tire mounted onsaid rim, and an emergency supporting ring member arranged radiallyinwardly of and in spaced relationship to said pneumatic tire andsupported by said rim, said ring member including a plurality of blockmeans forming the outer circumferential portion of said ring member anddefining recesses therebetween of approximately identical magnitude soas to space redailly outer portions of said block means from each other,the total of the width of all of said recesses measured along the outercircumferential cirfi' erlfi ii n illfi lllfi i r Ffiriiiiiilfi of thetire in inflated condition and the outer circumferential circle of saidemergency ring member, said block means being adapted to undergo a sheardeformation for compensating for the difference in the circumferentialspeed of said ring member and said tire in the deflated condition of thelatter, the distance between adjacent block means in inflated conditionof the tire being such that in deflated condition of the tire and withthe rated wheel load acting upon said ring member the distance betweenadjacent block means in the circumferential direction of said ringmember and within the ground contacting region of the tire being greaterthan the deformation stroke of the respective block means during theirshear deformation, the circumferential surface of said block means beingrounded in the circumferential direction of said ring member, and theratio of the rounding radius to the outer circumferential diameter ofsaid ring member being within the range of from 0.1 to 0.13 1.

1. A vehicle wheel which includes: a rim, a pneumatic tire mounted onsaid rim, and an emergency supporting ring member arranged radiallyinwardly of and in spaced relationship to said pneumatic tire andsupported by said rim, said ring member including a plurality of blockmeans forming the outer circumferential portion of said ring member anddefining recesses therebetween of approximately identical magnitude soas to space radially outer portions of said block means from each other,the total of the width of all of said recesses measured along the outercircumferential circle of said emergency ring member being greater thanthe difference between the inner circumferential circle of the tire ininflated condition and the outer circumferential circle of saidemergency ring member, said block means being adapted to undergo a sheardeformation for compensating for the difference in the circumferentialspeed of said ring member and said tire in deflated condition of thelatter, the distance between adjacent block means in inflated conditionof the tire being such that in deflated condition of the tire and withthe rated wheel load acting upon said ring member the distance betweenadjacent block means in the circumferential direction of said ringmember and within the ground contacting region of the tire being greaterthan the deformation stroke of the respective block means during theirshear deformation, the outer circumferential surface of said block meansbeing provided with blocks.
 2. A vehicle wheel according to claim 1, inwhich the ratio of the freely deformable height of the block means tothe height of said blocks is within the range of from 5 : 1 to 8 :
 1. 3.A vehicle tire which includes: a rim, a pneumatic tire mounted on saidrim, and an emergency supporting ring member arranged radially inwardlyof and in spaced relationship to said pneumatic tire and supported bysaid rim, said ring member including a plurality of block means formingthe outer circumferential portion of said ring member and definingrecesses therebetween of approximately identical magnitude so as tospace redailly outer portions of said block means from each other, thetotal of the width of all of said recesses measured along the outercircumferential circle of said emergency ring member being greater thanthe difference between the inner circumferential circle of the tire ininflated condition and the outer circumferential circle of saidemergency ring member, said block means being adapted to undergo a sheardeformation for compensating for the difference in the circumferentialspeed Of said ring member and said tire in the deflated condition of thelatter, the distance between adjacent block means in inflated conditionof the tire being such that in deflated condition of the tire and withthe rated wheel load acting upon said ring member the distance betweenadjacent block means in the circumferential direction of said ringmember and within the ground contacting region of the tire being greaterthan the deformation stroke of the respective block means during theirshear deformation, the circumferential surface of said block means beingrounded in the circumferential direction of said ring member, and theratio of the rounding radius to the outer circumferential diameter ofsaid ring member being within the range of from 0.1 to 0.13 : 1.